


Aftermath of 3x02

by ahhfic



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, body injuries, mentions of dead bodies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-23 11:31:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20891414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahhfic/pseuds/ahhfic
Summary: what the title says.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i have like no business writing this, seeing as i'm just beginning season 2, but i watched s3's eps 1and 2 and it absolutely freaking killed me, that cliffhanger. this has been playing in my mind for the past few days and i woke up this morning at 3am, had nothing better to do, and wrote this first chapter. will probably only be a two parter, we'll see. next chapter will the bulk of it in eddie's pov. just wanted to write this little scene where buck and chris reunite first.

When the water surges again, it’s carries Buck further away from the firetruck and his hopes of finding Christopher dwindles. He’s frantically kicking through the water, trying to get a hold of something to stop being pulled by the current. When he’s able to grab onto the open window frame of a dump truck, he pulls himself on top of the hood to climb up out of the water onto the roof of it. All the while, he hasn’t stopped searching his surroundings for the little boy that is his upmost priority right now. Eddie is going to literally murder him for letting this happen. But that is the least of his worries. He’s can’t stop yelling his name for the fear that if he will, he’ll start to give in to the worst thoughts forming in his head right now. That Christopher could be dead. Or that he’s hurt and alone. 

“Christopher!” He keeps yelling but there’s no answer. There is another civilian climbing up into a window of a second story building. There are bodies floating through the path Buck himself was just in. After they pass, he jumps back in and navigates his way through debris and cars. At one point his waist brushes against something under water that has broken glass. It’s leaves a deep cut in it’s path, but Buck hardly acknowledges it. 

It’s thirty minutes later, when he’s surrounded by low roofed buildings, other’s also crying out for people and/or in pain, that’s it becomes too overwhelming. He let Christopher down. Let him get swept away again. If anything happens to him now, that’s on Buck and he’ll never be able to forgive himself. Buck is panicking, breathing hard and standing still in the middle of it. He’s gone far enough ahead where the water is only waste deep. 

It’s strained and sounds far away when he hears it. “Buck!” 

He searches his surroundings for where the voice came from. It was too hard to tell, over the rush of the water if it was Christopher’s voice, but that’s who he’s looking for.

And he spots him, hanging onto another street light pole. Buck is flooded with relief. He hurries through the water towards Christopher who has let go of the pole. When Buck reaches him, he pulls him up to his chest and engulfs him in a hug. Buck has never felt so happy to see someone. 

“Oh, thank God! Thank God, you’re alright.” Buck pulls back and looks over him for any injuries. There is a small cut on his forehead, but nothing life-threatening. Christopher is smiling weakly up at him. “I’m so sorry I let you fall out.” 

A noise pulls his attention away for a moment. In the distance, he sees another surge of current coming in their direction. He looks around for higher ground and sees a metal ladder climbing up the side of a building in an alleyway. He pulls Christopher close as he hurriedly stomps through the water, feeling like his legs could give out any minute from exertion. He has Christopher hold on around his neck as he climbs up and out of the water. The current picks up, rushes through the buildings, and carries more bodies that he tries to shield Christopher from seeing. He wishes so badly that he could have done something for these people. There are a few alive that are carried down too, some are able to pull themselves out to safety on top of something, but some don’t. The fear of loosing Christopher again has Buck staying put on the roof or else he’d be going back down there to help. He sets Christopher down against the wall of the ledge. He huffs as he drops down beside him. “Let’s just stay up here for now. Till the surges quit.” 

“Buck,” Christopher calls, sounding scared.

Buck lifts his head from the ledge to looks down at him. “Huh?”

The boy is frowning at Buck’s torso area. “You’re bleeding.”

Buck looks down at his waist where the cut is, blood stains through his shirt in a big blot. He turns away from Christopher as he lifts it up to examine the cut. It’s deeper than he thought and with the water not holding the bleeding at bay anymore, it’s coming out freely now. Buck holds a hand against it, putting pressure there. It’s not too much of a concern if he can get it treated soon in the next 24 hours. 

“It’ll be okay,” He reassures Christopher as he goes back to leaning against the ledge again. 

“Buck,” Christopher says again, sounding more scared and tired than a kid should ever be. He rests his head against Buck’s arm and Buck moves it to pull him in and hold him close. They’re both trying to catch their breathe when they hear it. A helicopter flying over the area. Buck stands up to wave his hands over his head for their attention. A voice over an intercom from the helicopter states rescue boats will be by shortly. 

And sure enough, five turn a corner, one full of people already. None of the rescue workers look familiar. “Hey, Chris, we got to climb back down now, okay?”

He helps him up and holds onto him again as they descend down the ladder back into the water. They make their way across to a boat and hauls Christopher into it. He says a quick thanks to the fireman driving it before helping a woman that comes up behind him in before climbing in himself. He holds Christopher in his lap as it fills up with more people.

They are taken to dry land where they are then commandeered onto a school bus and taken to an old out of service VA hospital that’s been set up as a temporary hospital. Since they have no serious injuries, they are told to wait on a cot and a nurse will be by shortly. A stalky, frantically moving nurse in daytime clothes greets them and asks for their names and if they should contact anyone or if they’re missing anyone. 

Eventually another nurse comes by and cleans and bandages the cut on Christopher’s forehead. They also stitch up his wound. They’re checked for concussions and after being declared mostly in good health, they given water and told to get a check up with their regular doctor soon. Since Christopher isn’t his son, they have to hold on to him in the kid bay till he can be picked up by his father or any of his emergency contacts. Buck stays by his side the whole time. He borrows a phone from a stranger to call Eddie’s cell but he doesn’t answer. He bites his lip so hard from anxiously waiting through the dial tone. He doesn’t even know what he would say.

He tries his cell again and the station’s number, but nobody answers. He calls Maddie next and she’s relieved to hear they’re fine and safe. He asks her to try to get a hold of Eddie to let him know where Christopher is.

After he hangs up, he gives the phone back. His own was probably swept out of his pocket while he was under water. In the kid bay, there are many unaccompanied minors. Some of them are laying down on cots, some are talking and playing with others. Most are crying, calling out for their mom or dad. Christopher is sat a table, coloring on a sheet of paper with only a blue crayon. Buck sits down beside him and rests his head against the coolness of the table. 

“Hey, Buck. When can we go home?” 

Buck lifts his head back up and looks down at the boy. He’s tired, his eyes are drooping and his fingers start to move the crayon slower. “I don’t know, bud. They won’t release you until your dad gets here and I don’t know when that’ll be since he’s working and is probably out rescuing more people. They probably won’t be released from duty for a while.”

He looks up at Buck, worried. “You’ll stay with me, right?” 

“Of course, bud. I’m not going anywhere.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the first part to Eddie's pov. I'll post the last half tonight or tomorrow morning. (Hint to what its about: they finally talk it out about Buck's behavior)
> 
> (I waited a few days before trying to write this. I wanted to watch more of S2 to try to get a feel for Edddie's character.)
> 
> Hope you like it.

It’s nearing four in the morning when their squad is relieved from duty by another who’ve come from a more inland city not effected. Eddie’s head feels sluggish and his feet feel like lead. The steel toe boots don’t make it any easier as he trudges along back to their trucks. He finds his phone where he accidently left it on his seat, the little red notification light blinking. He turns it on to see he has eight missed calls. Most are from Maddie and a few from an unknown number. He furrows his eyebrows at it, trying to remember if it’s familiar or not. He calls Maddie’s cell and she picks up after two rings. 

“Hey, you guys okay?” She asks urgently, but doesn’t pause, “Buck and Chris are at the VA hospital. He’s fine. They both are. Chris just can’t be released until you get him. I think he tried to get a hold of you. They were on the pier when the tsunami first hit.”

Buck squeezes his phone closer to his ear, back tensing as he takes a quick inhale as a few emotions run through him. First shocked. Then worried. Then relief. “They’re okay? Chris is okay?”

“Yes,” Maddie assures. 

Eddie sighs out a breath he was starting to hold in. “Okay, thanks Maddie.” He hangs up and suddenly picking up equipment is the last thing he wants to do right now. “Captain,” He calls out and looks around for him. He spots him over by the paramedic truck, wrapping gauze around a cut on his arm and beelines over to him. 

“Captain, Chris is at the VA hospital. Buck is too. They were on the pier when the tsunami hit.” He looks down at his heavy boots, suddenly the energy to even run in them surges through him. “I gotta go, Cap.”

Bobby nods his head. “Are they fine?”

“Yeah, Maddie said so. But I need to go. They’re holding him till I get there.”

Bobby nods again. “Okay, guys! Let’s hurry up! We need to make a pit stop before going back to the station.”

~

When they get there, Eddie hops out before the truck is even put in park. He manages to find out where Chris is after asking two nurses that look dead on their feet.

When he first enters the room full of young teenagers and kids, he’s overwhelmed by the thought that some of these kid’s parents are probably dead and feels an ache run though him. It’s Buck he spots first, with his back facing him as he walks over to the furthest corner from the door. “Buck!” Eddie shouts.

His friend turns around, surprised but obviously relieved to see him. Eddie jogs over. “Where’s Chris?”

Buck can’t seem to make eye contact with him as he turns slightly and points over to where Chris is sleeping on a cot. Eddie exhales, finally seeing him for himself, relieved to see he’s not hurt. At least physically. He rushes over to him and wakes him up with a gentle shake.

Chris’ eyes blink open slightly before he registers it’s him and sits up. “Daddy.” They hug and Chris doesn't let go. Emotions take their toil on Eddie after such a long day and tears bead at the corners of his eyes.

“Hey, buddie, I’m glad you’re okay.” 

“I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“Good. Can we go home now?”

Eddie breathes a laugh, “Yeah. I bet you’re tired, huh?”

He picks up his son and turns back around to find Buck still standing where he stopped, watching them. He is also crying and it shocks Eddie. “Hey, are you okay? Did you get checked out?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m just.” Buck visibly swallows and takes a step back from them. “I’m just tired.”

Eddie walks up to him and rests one hand on his shoulder. “Hey. I’m glad you’re okay. Thanks for staying with him in here.” 

Buck nods. “Of course.” 

To Eddie, there looks like there’s something going on with Buck. He thinks Buck shouldn’t go back home alone. “Where’s Maddie?”

“Back at work. She got a break last night and came to see us, but they needed her back in this morning.”

Eddie nods at this, “You’re coming with us. You shouldn’t be alone right now anyway.”

Eddie can tell he wants to decline his offer, by the way he keeps shying away from looking up at them. Eddie can’t figure out why though.

Chris picks his head up from his shoulder. “Yeah. Come to our house.” 

Buck shrugs then and Eddie knows they’ve won. Buck has never been able to deny his son anything. “Okay.”

On the ride back to the station, Eddie rests against his seat as his son falls back asleep beside him under his arm. Buck sits in front of him, nodding off himself. He’s been quiet the whole time since they’ve entered the truck. He didn’t even crack a chuckle or anything when Hen or Chimney tried to make jokes after they all realized he was fine. Eddie can’t imagine the terror it must have been to be that close, on the pier, when the tsunami hit. Buck may be a firefighter but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to the mental trauma disaster situations like this can cause. He doesn’t ask any questions. Nobody does. They can all see that Buck and Chris are just too tired right now to do anything, much less talk about what they just went through. For now, everyone falls quiet, fatigued.

~

It’s around 11 a.m. by the time they make it back to his house. He makes Chris take a bath and changes his bandage on his forehead before he lets him fall back asleep in his bed. He stands in the doorway for a long moment, just watching him to make sure he’s really okay, and assuring himself really, before returning back to the living room. Buck is standing awkwardly by the unlit fireplace, slightly trembling. His clothes are stiff looking and wrinkled from being worn while air drying. Eddie bets he’d like to get out of them. He turns back to head into his room to grab sweatpants and a shirt for him. 

“Here.” Buck accepts the clothing. “You want to take a shower?”

Buck’s lips pull back into a polite smile, one that means he’s about to decline. Eddie can’t accept that though. A shower would do him good. He pushes him in the direction of the bathroom. “Take one.”

He gives in easily. “Okay,” He complies weakly.

After the door is shut, Eddie finally notices the pain in his stomach from not eating anything since yesterday morning. He makes fried eggs and toast while he waits for Buck. He’s making himself a plate when his friend quietly steps into the kitchen. “Hey, you hungry?”

After a few seconds, Buck lifts his head from starring at the ground to him. His eyes have bags and his hands are clasped together in front of him, giving off vibes that is not usually associated with him. 

“Buck,” He starts, not really knowing what to say since he doesn’t know exactly what his friend is thinking. Buck looks away and steps forward. “Yeah, thanks.”

They eat in silence. He wishes he knew what Buck was thinking about. He wonders if it’s something he could help with, but he doesn’t want to push him into talking about it too soon. He figures Buck will when he’s ready.

~

After breakfast, he takes a shower. When he comes back out and enters the living room, he’s surprised to see Buck isn’t already asleep. He’s sitting on the couch and staring at the blank screen of the tv.

“Hey, you okay?”

Buck looks up at him with another sad smile. “Yeah, I just can’t sleep right now. Brain’s still too wired,” He admits.

“Want to watch a movie?” Eddie suggests.

“Sure.”

So he puts on a random comedy on Netflix, but the movie is not really important to what’s really going on here. Buck seems to relax a little and so does Eddie. They both are finding comfort in being in each other’s presence after such a long and harrowing day. Sometimes it’s better to unwind with somebody than to do it alone. 

About 10 minutes in, Buck falls asleep still sitting up with his head resting against the back of the couch. The blanket Eddie gave him after breakfast is pooled around his feet, forgotten.

Eddie lifts it back up to fall on his lap before he takes the pillow he also gave him into his own lap to hug while he lets his eyes return to the movie. Sleep takes over in a matter of minutes. He feels calm, knowing that his son and best friend are safe in his home now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you go, the last of it! hope you like it. It's not exactly pre-relationship between them like i initially wanted it to end like. more like pre-pre-relationship if that makes sense. i wrote it in the sense that eddie is just entering the stage of catching feels for his best friend. 
> 
> so without further ado. . .

It feels like he’s only been asleep for a couple of hours when Eddie is woken up by a scream. At first, his instincts thinks it’s Chris. But when he opens his eyes, takes in his surroundings, sees Buck whose eyes are squeezed shut, he realizes it came from him. 

He sits up, alert now. His friend must be having a bad dream. He grabs onto Buck’s shoulder and gently shakes him. “Buck,” He calls out, but Buck doesn’t wake up. Eddie shakes him a little harder. He calls his name a little louder, “Buck.”

He jolts awake and as he stares up at the ceiling, Eddie notices little tears beading in the corners of his eyes. He gently squeezes Buck’s shoulder to get his attention. Buck brings a hand up to wipe his eyes and finally looks at Eddie. “Bucky,” And if he wasn’t so concerned for his friend at the moment, he would’ve maybe realized he just hybrided Buck’s name with the word baby. “What’s wrong?”

Buck shakes his head, heading for denial. “Nothing-

“Please,” He pleads gently. “It might be good for you to talk about it.”

Buck sighs and sits back, putting more space in between them. “I just,” Buck pauses as he shakes his head again. “I had him. He was safe and I got too heroic trying to pull in other people and he fell back in and I lost him for what felt like forever.” He takes a watery inhale before admitting what must really be bothering him, “I thought he was dead. And that would’ve been on me. I shouldn’t have taken him to the pier. We should’ve gone to the movies like you suggested. I’m so sorry."

Eddie reaches out for him again, placing a hand on the forearm closest to him. “Buck, the important thing is you’re both safe now.”

“Yeah, but what if I hadn’t of found Chris? What if he really had died?” He sounds terrified and Eddie hates it. 

Eddie squeezes his arm, not hard, just to try to pull him out of those thoughts. “You can’t start thinking about what-ifs. It’s hard to stop when you start. What you need to do is be thankful that you did find Chris, because I am. It doesn’t matter to me that you lost him, because you _did_ find him again.” Eddie pauses, trying to think of what else to say when he sees Buck is still frowning down at his lap. “I don’t blame you for taking my son out on the pier. It was a natural disaster that you nor I could’ve seen coming. And as for Chris, he’s not thinking it’s your fault he fell back in. He’s just glad you were there to find him again, I bet. He loves you, you know.” A tear falls down and lands on Eddie’s hand. Eddie lets go of his arm to reach up for his face, placing it on his cheek and guiding him to look up at him. He uses his thumb to wipe away the wet tracks on his face, careful of the little cuts. “We both love you. You’re family and we don’t want to see you worry anymore over this. Please.” Eddie spoke from the heart and hopes that was what Buck needed to hear. 

Buck breathes in a shuddery breath. “Okay.”

“Kay?” Eddie asks for reassurance as he lifts his other arm, an invitation for a hug. Buck gladly accepts it, moves forward to wrap his own arms around Eddie’s waist and rests his forehead on his shoulder. Eddie relishes every second of it, hoping for it to last all night. 

Buck still looks a little upset (or now that Eddie knows, guilt is more like it) when he pulls back. “I love you guys too.” He starts, glancing around the room, getting shy all of a sudden. “Didn’t know if you knew that. So, yeah.” He ends with a nervous laugh. 

Eddie tilts his head and smiles fondly as he watches Buck slowly relax again. Eddie’s eyes are starting to get heavy again too. “You still tired?” He asks.

Buck nods. “Yeah.”

Eddie sets the pillow against the arm rest and scoots further away from it before laying back. “Come here.” He pulls Buck down with him, mindful of the stitches in his side, his body slotting in sideways between the back of the couch and Eddie’s body. Buck laughs. “Are we seriously cuddling?”

“Are you seriously asking?” Eddie mocks back. 

Buck gives in easily and wraps his arm around Eddie’s waist again, pulling him closer. “We’re too big for this.”

“Nonsense. The couch is just too small,” Eddie counters. “Should we move to my bed?”

Buck groans. Apparently the idea of laying in his bed sounds like heaven. Eddie should’ve offered it sooner. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

Eddie grins up at Buck as he moves up and off of him. He offers a hand to Eddie and he gladly takes it. 

On their way to his bedroom, they stop by Chris’ to check on him and find him still peacefully sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading. probably my second most fave thing ive written so far this year.


End file.
